The postings below are in reverse chronological order (most recent first). They are also included in the Topical Index of this archive.
First, I think we agree that all people who are in need should receive aid, regardless of whether we like them or not, regardless of whether they are Christians or not, and regardless of whether they are our friends or our enemies.
I think that when Christians become aware of human needs that are not being met by government welfare or other social agencies, we should try to do something to relieve human misery ourselves, through our local churches or foreign mission organizations, before we start lobbying to try to get our secular governments to do more. I don't mean to say that government welfare should be eliminated. It is still needed, but it can never be a substitute for Christian service given in the name of the Lord and for His glory.
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"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto
him, Go, and do thou likewise." |
But there is another side to this. Anything that is given as charity or welfare assistance to someone who does not need it is that much aid taken away from someone who does have a real need. In any case of doubt, I would much rather err on the side of giving aid to someone who doesn't need it than to deny aid to anyone who does.
There are cases, however, in which people try to abuse the system. I am not intending to accuse any particular person or group of being lazy here, and human misery cries out more loudly than anything else does when people are starving. Still, I believe that the Lord does not intend for anyone, particularly for any Christian, to be given a free ride for an entire lifetime if the person has the ability and opportunity to work. The following passage from 2 Thessalonians was addressed to a group of Christians:
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"For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if
any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." |
This does not prevent us from worshipping God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, however, because they are one with Jesus. In the following verse from 1 John, "the Word" refers to Jesus.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of
whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me:
for he was before me.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ.
No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which
If you aren't having that kind of experience, pray about it. Find a church where the people are full of joy. Be sure that that church exalts Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Saviour. If you haven't given your life to Him, do so. None of this talk about joy ever makes any sense to someone who hasn't done that. Then wait, and let Him show you what the purpose of the rules is.
"For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if
any would not work, neither should he eat.
For we hear that there are some which walk among you
disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus
Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own
bread.
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that
man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2, 5 -- 11, KJV
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This is a radical but essential part of Christianity. I think it is also probably one of the main reasons why Christians were executed in the first century. If they had been willing to worship Jesus along with other gods and the emperor, no one would have objected, but since they insisted that Jesus Christ alone is Lord, they were considered dangerous political subversives, and thrown to the lions.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age
is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state
is altogether vanity. Selah.
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are
disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who
shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee."
Psalm 39, 4 -- 7, KJV
Since we know that an entire human lifetime is so short as to be considered to be nothing from the perspective of eternity, how can we humans say that Jesus did not return quickly? How quick is quick? An hour, a day, a year, a century, or a billion years? Even many billions of years are a short time compared to eternity.
Somewhere along the way, you will probably find people who will try to tell you that if you insist on producing only clean cartoons you won't be able to make a living as an animator. Don't give in to them. If you make your standards clear, those organizations that you would not be happy working in will turn you down. That's a blessing in disguise. It will spare you a great deal of trouble, and the organizations that you would be happy working in will still be interested in your work.
Even if you have to earn part of your living doing something else, it will be worth it to know that you have given the world good with no evil mixed in.
The importance of what is symbolized here can not be overemphasized, however. Jesus offered His broken body and shed blood to save each of us. When we take part in a Communion service we should be doing more than merely thinking about what an amazing gift of love this was. As we eat the bread and drink the wine or grape juice, we should be praying to renew our experience of receiving Him spiritually into our souls and lives.
The only kind of person who could get through life without accepting anything on faith would be an omnicient person. Anyone whose knowledge of the universe is less than total must accept some things as being true, or at least probably true, and make decisions based on these "truths", without fully understanding them. That's faith. We don't have any choice as to whether or not to have faith. We can only choose whom or what to place our faith in.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."
Of course, that is not to say that a vague knowledge of God is enough. It isn't. We still need to know Christ. But those who respond rightly to the knowledge of God that they have, will be led the rest of the way into a full knowledge of the truth.
That also is not an excuse for failing to evangelize, because Christians who do not make the effort to share the gospel are showing by their inaction that they don't care what happens to those who do not yet believe.
"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew
this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the
land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
But we also know that God is always able to prevent us from losing our salvation as long as we are willing:
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."
Jude 1:24 -- 25, KJV
The Lord who loved us enough to die for us will not allow anyone to be lost who sincerely seeks Him and continues to do so. The choice, however, is up to us.
Admitting that we are sinners is a requirement for becoming Christian.Some Christians seem to have forgotten that. However, to a Christian, Jesus Christ is still the Lord of all. No one else can take His place, and no one else can save us.
We do not know everything. That includes Christians. The verse quoted above was addressed to a group of Christians. The Lord promises, however, that if we continue to follow Him the day will come when we will know.
How would such a world work? If God were to decide never to punish anyone for anything, then He would have to tolerate not only differing forms of religion but also murder, slander, and racism, etc., because people do sometimes choose to engage in those things. I would not want to go to an eternal "heaven" in which I still had to worry about being murdered, slandered, or discriminated against. That doesn't sound very heavenly to me. So, then, why didn't God create people incapable of evil, people who would always love God and each other, without even having the ability to do otherwise? Because in that case our "love" for God and for each other would be involuntary. Involuntary "love" isn't really love at all. It is slavery. We would not "go" to hell, we would all be in hell already. There would be no heaven. "God wants us to be His by choice, not by force." After a personal friend told me that, it took a while for it to sink in. If you are wrestling with these issues as I have, mull this idea over for a while.
We have evidence that "the Word" is Jesus in the following passage from the Gospel of John:
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
1 John 5:7, KJV
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 1: 14--18, KJV
2 Thessalonians 3:10 -- 15, KJV
Any organization or doctrine which tells us that it is acceptable to worship both Jesus Christ and something or someone else is not Christian.
...snip...
I believe people are judged not on how much opportunity to hear the gospel they were given, but on how they responded to what they did know. And all of us have enough knowledge of God to be able to respond to it.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;
Romans 1: 18--21, KJV
Jude 1:5 -- 6, KJV
If you are trying to figure out whether some person or group is Christian or not, find out what that person or group believes about the identity of Jesus. Do they acknowledge that He is Lord of all?
"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Corinthians 12:3(KJV)